The Crystal of Beauxbatons
by ImmyMoon997
Summary: Odelle looked upon the blue satchel that would be her schoolbag for the next school year, come September. She would never have begun to guess that it would never venture past secondary school gates. There was a magic inside her that she never would have known, had it not been the shimmering envelope she would recieve the next day...
1. chapter 1

Odelle transfixed her eyes upon her white ceiling. Well, mostly white. Tea coloured dampness spread over certain patches in ever growing, upside down puddles. She didn't mind, it felt more homey when her room wasn't 'perfect'.

Odelle's fine mousy brown hair fell about her eyes in strings, as she sat up among a crinkle of sheets. With disgust she pulled a strand off her chin, where it had been superglued with saliva.

She murmured a faint

'Ew...'

And took a sip from the water on her bedside.

Odelle knew she wouldn't go back to sleep, not now that she'd woken up. She never did, but didn't mind really. She was one for adventure, and what better a time to start exploring than the first day of the summer holidays? So, with a sudden tingle of excitement, she hastily made her bed, (then gave up halfway and decided she didn't care nor could be bothered.) and hitching on her cotton tights, denim shorts and loose, slightly moth eaten brown jumper, she made her way down the stairs, her booted feet making hollow taps down the wooden staircase. She quietly closed the front door and stepped out onto the cobbled street, quietly closing the door behind her. Only when the door clicked it's metallic click did Odelle come to her senses. Where was she going to go? That's when her heart sank a little. But the bright streets of Paris weren't giving up on her, their narrow alleys slanted with the glow of dawn it seemed (at that moment) only Odelle could see. And with that last thought, she ran.

The pre-carved path that had apparently been waiting in Odelle's mind took her far out toward Cendre Forest. It was so called because of it's dark but beautiful landscape. In winter, the trees, which loomed like withered hands, snatching at each other, reminded Odelle of a book she'd once read about a girl called Alyona, who had run far too deep into the sea of trees, and lost herself among tangles of branches and twisted roots.

It was far past the branches that winter would bring the wood though, and instead the summer brought streams of watery sunlight, which danced across Odelle's rosy cheeks as she crossed the damp earth.

You might have thought her parents were concerned about her whereabouts at this point, but between her many brothers (Not to mention Fabian, her youngest brother, who thought himself a dog) her parents wouldn't acknowledge her absence until later that morning, when she stepped through the door.

Odelle had always been drawn to the forest, (She couldn't place why) And her parents simply nodded and waved her away when she told them where she'd been. Well, her father anyway. Her mother wasn't as keen on her disappearing off into Cendre's depths.

Her mother screeched

"Where _have_ you been?"

Odelle jumped what felt like a foot into the air.

"Maman... Just the forest, isn't that where I always am?"

Her voice softened immediately, and she continued to pour boiling water into two coffee cups.

"I suppose I should have seen it coming. But you must be _careful_ Odelle..."

"Careful of _what_ Maman?"

She paused, the last words echoing around the round kitchen walls.

"There are just..."

Pause

"I used to go there. All the time in fact. I went if it rained, snowed, was so hot it would burn the very tips of your hair...

Until I... Had a bad experience."

Odelle's heart skipped a beat, and she let out a shallow breath she realised she must have been holding for the time her Mother had been talking.

"I'm sorry Maman. I-"

"It's not your fault. It was nothing, honestly, just... be careful, never talk to strangers..."

Odelle became quite frightened in the span it took for her Mother to say that next sentence.

"I won't Maman, I promise... but won't you tell me what happened? I'm sorry, I'm just curious... I'll.."

Her Mother smiled her kind smile once again and sat down to face Odelle.

"I will tell you, but now is not the time."

Her Mother took her hands and released Odelle to go back to her room on the top floor.

A beautiful house, Odelle's family owned. Modest, but beautiful in all its own ways. It had narrow, natural wooded staircases leading from floor to floor, (three in total, for the four floors.) It had long, velvet curtains lining every long, Parisian window standing at each end of each floor. Her house was on a corner, so was rounded, which Odelle loved. It was so much more intestesting than the stiffer, squarer buildings you would find, the further into Paris you went. But Odelle's most adored feature of their rather large apartment was by far her bedroom. It wasn't the elegant bedside or the antique school desk she had received for her last birthday, it was the balcony. Well, she called it a balcony. If it were a proper balcony, you'd find it hard to say it was normal, as it was pretty much at the peak of the apartment's roof. Her parents were oblivious to the occasional nightly dissapearance of their daughter. Odelle would stand atop her desktop, reach for the window set into the rounded ceiling, and slide it open to reveal a small prism of sunset. Then she would haul herself up by her elbows above the ceiling and find herself grasping for two of the rusted iron stakes that were arranged in a crooked square. A plank of weak looking wood was set upon the back row of corroding points, which Odelle spent many a night perched upon. The sun would set in slanted triangles of light, not orange, but a pale pink, fairytale like, over Montmatre.

She wouldn't usually have sat up there in broad daylight, but she had a strange urge to hear the quiet and feel the wind and watch Paris pass her by.

 _Honk-Hooonk_

An angry driver.

 _Clip-Clip-Clip-Clip_

A smart heeled business lady, striding down the next street toward her car.

 _TickTickTick-TickTick-Tick_

A man slowing on his rickety red bike.

 _Click-Clop_

Two feet landing on the floor.

 _Knock-Knock_

Two knocks at the apartment door.

Her Mother's voice sounded, along with the clack of a key in a lock.

A minute later the door closed. Another, and Odelle nearly jumped out of her skin as she acknowledged the voice directly beneath her.

"There's a letter for you my dear"

It was her Mother.

Odelle's first thought was to attempt explaining why she was atop the roof, eavesdropping on every detail of every person below her's lives at that very moment. But her Mother's kind expression told her to do otherwise.

I'm her Mother's hand, a powder blue letter lay delicately among her pale, dry fingers, and short fingernails. It was sealed with an uneven puddle of shimmering silver wax, that seemed to almost radiate sunshine.

She stared at it for at least ten seconds before smiling back at her Mother and graciously plucking it from her hold.

"Thanks..."

Odelle started, as innocent as she could look as she glanced feebly into her Mother's knowing eyes.

"I'll leave you to open it, Odelle."

Was her Mother's only response.

Gently, her Mother shut the door behind her.

And as soon as the door had clicked, the envelope opened before Odelle's very shallow breathing, her hazel eyes intense enough to burn a hole in the curled writing on the parchment.

 _Authors Note:_

 _I'm sorry this chapter was so short! Thankyou so much for reading my fanfic so far, I really appreciate it. Please keep reading, it will only get more action packed in the next chapter. (And hopefully longer!)_

 _Thankyou!_

 _ImmyMoon_


	2. Chapter 2

Odelle's vision swam slightly before her eyes. The levitating parchment was elegantly unfolding itself, twisting and turning in midair. Some part of Odelle's brain told her to take it, the other part stayed stock still, along with the rest of her body.

Feeling slightly faint, and about a minute later, the parchment swung gracefully down into Odelle's now outstretched hands. She couldn't help but let out a wild, unexplainable grin and a laugh when it landed gently into her palms, for the things she'd just witnessed. And she read in a whisper:

"To Ms Odelle Beaumont,

We are pleased to inform you that by request, you have been accepted for Beaux batons school of Witchcraft, France's top school for magic.

School begins September 5th, at 9:00am sharp.

Le Express de Beaux Batons leaves for school on September the 4th at 11:00am.

For this years first year's curriculum, the following equipment will be necessary:"

Odelle stopped, hardly daring to move in case she was suddenly having a wonderful hallucination, or was wrapped in a delicious dream of which she would wake, thinking too deep on the matter. So, proceeding, she read through the list of equipment she would need to start Beaux Batons.

Spell books...A magic wand...

Her mind raced. Was this some kind of well organised prank? Odelle felt the overpowering sense of betrayal, which filled up the next second. No, her Mother wouldn't have done that to her. What if her Mother forbid her to go? She realised she'd do anything to go... anything!

Should she tell her Mother? Did she already know? 'Maman' lay fiercely on her lips, ready to betray the secrets of the letter to her Mother at the next shout. She ignored it.

She read over it again, slanting her eyes down to narrowed slits, and widening them again. When she'd finished going over it for the third time, Odelle felt her head beginning to catch up with her heart. It was an uplifting, (but all the same real) beautiful wonderful moment. Sparks whispering a kind of freedom sent waves of excitement and pure joy leaping across her mind. Suddenly the sparks were across her knees, ankles, flailing her arms across the bannister rail and making her feet stumble eccentrically down the stairs in twos. And there, the words spilled from her like a saucepan to the brim with boiling water.

"Maman! _Maman!_ Maman, you won't believe me, it must be a trick Maman!"

"What is it Odelle? Are you ok?"

Usually her Mother would have sounded much more concerned at the frantic tone in her daughter, but the fact she only seemed a _little_ reminded Odelle of one of her last thoughts. Did her Mother already know? But deciding to let it wash over her, she continued:

"Maman, the letter, the letter! It says... well, it says of a school I can attend! Oh please let me go, I'll do anything! It's not a trick, is it? I'll do _anything!"_

Her Mother's voice remained calm

"Odelle, Odelle! Calm! Calm, it's fine! Just let me see the letter, and we can talk through it together."

"Ok, I'll go get it!"

"Yes, you go get it. But watch yourself on the stairs Odelle, honestly, if you're going twenty miles an hour up _our_ staircase, you're hardly going to make the top without breaking both legs!"

"I will!"

Odelle laughed.

When Odelle finally got back to the golden sunlit kitchen, her Mother was sitting looking most pleased, hands crossed in her lap, (looking slightly fidgety) at the table.

As soon as she stumbled into the room, Odelle plonked herself into one of the chairs, nearly caught her middle toe as she pulled her chair closer to her Mother, and handed the envelope over to her.

Expecting her Mother to open the envelope then, it confused her as to why her Mother stared at the seal, then cast it aside onto the table. She then looked down to meet Odelle's quivering eyes. Odelle looked back, a kind of longing, portraying her eyes mistier than usual.

Then...

"Odelle, first of all... I need you to know I'm sorry I never told you of this before"

Pause

"The same thing happened to me when I was your age. My Mother wouldn't let me go. So I taught myself."

Feeling slightly uncomfortable with the unusual closeness between her and her Mother, Odelle asked:

"Maman! What do you mean? Learn what?"

Smiling, her Mother looked still at Odelle.

"Odelle, Beaux batons is a school of magic. My Mother wouldn't let me go, so I taught myself."

Now Odelle was lost for words. She really didn't believe what she was hearing. The world was suddenly so real before her, but so unbelievably surreal. A million thoughts pushed past each other, trying desperately to reach the very tipping point between Odelle's urge to think it, and the point of which it would spill from her mouth.

But before the first words would pass the finish line of her tongue, her Mother spoke once more.

"Odelle, we have a lot to do and speak of, and not much time to do so. So I suggest we start now, and I tell you the most important thing to know at this point.

Odelle, you're a witch"

She hardly dare breathe. She could feel her lips limp, her eyes almost aglow with concentration.

"My Mother wouldn't let me go for the same reason I don't like you going to Cendre Forest. She thought it was dangerous. Her Mother, your _Great Grandmother_ attended Beauxbatons. And she..."

The sparkle that had flickered fiercely in her Mother's eyes a few moments ago seemed to dim.

With a sigh she continued.

"She... she died there Odelle. I don't know how. Mother would never speak of it. But I know that my Mother never meant harm to stop me from going to Beauxbatons. She did it out of love, and she meant well."

The spark appeared again.

"But _Odelle!_ Please do _not_ think I will stop you going. No, please don't be afraid!"

Odelle was anything _but_ afraid. It seemed her Mother was more so, that she wouldn't attend, than herself.

"Odelle, more than anything, I want you to have the best chance at life. In some ways, that I never had so much... I want you to _go!_

It's _wonderful!_ It really is! From what I've heard anyway, and when you read a lot of books in your youth, you pick things up pretty quickly. Oh, you shall have the _best_ time! Please do not be put off by the accident. Nobody's been harmed since, and nobody had, hardly _before_ that incident."

Once again, Odelle felt the urge to laugh and smile and run up stairs and down again, but scared of breaking that unbelievable moment, instead she shakily said

"Maman... I don't know... I don't understand! Is this a joke!? What- a _WAND!?_ A _CAULDRON?!_ This is so much to take in. All my life I read story books full of fairies and mystical creatures, and giant portals in trees leading to different worlds...- I just..."

"I know it's a lot... But Odelle, enjoy this moment, and say that our trip out shopping is just another part of it, and think about the shock of it all later."

Her eyebrows furrowed.

"Shopping trip?"

Once again, the now familiar fire lit up her Mother's eyes.

"Well, you've got to get all this magic stuff somewhere, don't you?"

She smiled.

Odelle grinned back.

For the rest of that blessed night, Odelle mulled the news over in her mind. She had to lie down on her bed in stages every hour or so for fear of suddenly toppling over and waking up into her normal life. She knew this was real, she did, but reality had never felt so fragile.

Lying down, it was now ten fifty six pm, and she had to shut her eyes for a moment. She had never felt happier. Her worries left her, secondary school left her. Then it occurred to her. No... Alex. Alex is her best friend. He's about a centimetre shorter than she is. He has dark brown hair, brown eyes, and in most circumstances, looks like he's been dragged through a hedge backward. It's always been that way, just them two, alone at lunchtime in the playground, talking about the future, and when they'll next run over the rooftops, or have a session of late night den building in the forest. Always been that way. But it would all change. She felt a deep surge of guilt pulse through her, and sitting up, a thought struck her. What if he didn't find any friends? What if _she_ didn't find any friends? What if, a thousand miles apart, they each sat _lonely_ , on a bench somewhere, with nothing better to do than muse on the pastimes they had had together? _No! Don't be ridiculous Odelle!_ She thought.

After the realisation that she'd been staring at the wall for what (according to the clock) had been at least three minutes, she decided on going to talk to her Mother about this. It was now 11:04.

"Ah! I was just about to come and find you dear."

Odelle's Mother was standing by the front door, coat on, shoulder bag slung loosely around her torso, balancing on her hip bone.

Was she going out somewhere? At _this_ time?

"Maman, it's past eleven! Surely you're not going anywhere at _this_ time?"

Her Mother now wore a face almost suggesting she had seen their dog, Croissant, try to fly.

"Well, you're coming too! I thought I'd save it as a late night surprise."

Excitement instantly spilled adrenaline through Odelle.

"Where Maman? Where are we going?"

"We need to get your equipment for Beauxbatons _somewhere._ "

"Maman! It's the almost the middle of the night! I don't think-"

"No time to ask questions, we've got to catch a bus!"

Odelle grinned slightly stupidly in her current daze as her Mother enveloped her in her green duffel coat, and watched her sit down to tie her laces.

Not far from their front steps, about a hundred yards to the next street down on the right of their house, Odelle and her Mother stood in the velvety darkness, under a bus stop lined with street lamps that shone rays upon Odelle's face when she moved.

She debated on whether asking her Mother more questions would make her an impatient and annoying daughter, so thought the better of it and decided on trusting her that she knew what she was doing and where she was going.

They sat in silence on the slightly grimy surface of the bus stop's bench, perched precariously on the edge.

After five minutes passed, her Mother suddenly stood up. Odelle followed her example, and in curiosity, looked round the corner of the platform. But looking straightforward and up and down and sideways to try and figure with what her Mother's attention was drawn, she could not see anything. She had to look _down_.

There, like it had been set into the cobblestones for centuries, a mirror was set deep into the ground. And without another word, just one simple nod in Odelle's direction, her Mother bowed her head low to the floor, and dove through it _headfirst._

 _Authors Note_

 _First of all reader, Thankyou so much for bothering to read my FanFiction, I really appreciate it. I'm sorry if the 3rd chapter doesn't come in the next couple of weeks (May is a busy month) But please don't give up reading. As I said in my profile: I'm learning, so hopefully the story will only get better from here. More action packed and magical:)_

 _Thankyou!_

 _ImmyMoon997_


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